Territory



L M e h S L. t e h S 5 G N I N. Wu U RG E I H n M & M .w

(No Model.)

No. 471,783. Patented Mar. 29, 1892.

J. M. & M. s. BROWNING.

5- Sheets-Shef 2.

(No Model.)

v MACHINE GUN.

i III] N H (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Shet 3-. J. M.-&; M. S. BROWNING.

MACHINE GUN.

Patented Mar. 29, 1892.

RE RE;

5'Sheets-Shet 4.

(No Model.)

J. M. '8; M. S. BROWNING. MAGHINBGUN.

Patented Mar. 29-, 1892.

I NEED STATES ATENT OFFICE JOHN M. BROWVNING AND MATTHEW S. BRO\VNING,OF OGDEN, UTAH I TERRITORY.

MACHINE-GUN.

SYEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,783, dated March29, 1892. Application filed. August 3, 1891. Serial No. 401,575. (Nomodel.)

To 00% whom it may concern:

Be it known that We, JOHN M. BROWNING and MATTHEW S. BROWNING, of Ogden,in the county of Weber and Territory of Utah, have invented a newImprovement in Machine- Guns; and we do hereby declare thefollowing,when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitutepart of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a side View of the gun looking from the left; Fig. 2, a top orplan view; Fig. 3, a side view looking from the right; Fig. 4, a frontend view; Fig. 5, a longitudinal central section looking from the left,showing parts in side view, all in the closed position; Fig. 6, an underside view looking upward, showing the arrangement of the reacting springand also the mainspring of the hammer; Fig. 7, a longitudinal section ofthe forward portion of the gun, showing the lever E in the openposition; Fig. 8, a rear portion in longitudinal section, showing thebreechpiece as open and the hammer as cocked; Fig. 9, a longitudinalsection illustrating the discharge of the hammer; Fig. 10, a top view ofthe rear portion in partial section to illustrate the means for holdingthe hammer in the cooked position and releasing it therefrom; Fig. 11,an inside view of the feeding mechanism for the supply of cartridges;Fig. 12, a vertical transverse section cutting on line 00a: of Fig. 11;Fig. 13, a vertical transverse section cutting on line y y of Fig. 11;Fig.14, an under side view of the slide J; Fig. 15, ahorizontal sectioncutting on line a: a: of Fig. 12, showing the breech-piece in the closedposition and as engaged with the cartridge on the carrier; Fig. 16, thesame section as Fig. 15, showing the breech-piecein the open positionand as having withdrawn the cartridge from the receiver preparatory toits transfer to a position forward of the breech-piece; Fig. 17, a frontend view of the breech-piece detached; Fig. 18, a longitudinal sectionthrough the projection of the breech-piece on line a: 00 of .Fig. 17.

matically operated by means of the gas produced by explosion as itescapes from the muzzle, the invention having for its object acombination of mechanism whereby the cartridges will be successivelypresented, introduced into the barrel, the primer struck for explosion,the exploded shell withdrawn, a second cartridge introduced, and that inits turn exploded, such operations being automatic after the explosionof the first cartridge takes place; and the invention consists in thecombination of mechanism, as hereinafter described, and particularlyrecited in the claims.

A represents the receiver, to the forward end of which the barrel B isattached in the usual manner for attaching barrels to the re ceiver offire-arms or other guns. At the forward end of the barrel a bracket 0 isarranged stationary with the barrel, and to this bracket, upon a pivotD, a lever E is hung so as to swing upon the said pivot in the plane ofthe barrel. At its upper end the lever terminates in a cap or disk Fforward of the front end of the barrel, and through this disk is anopening Gr, corresponding to the bore of the barrel, the inner face ofthis disk being exposed at the forward end of the barrel, as seen inFig. 5, and it is preferably arranged a short distance from the end ofthe barrel, as seen in that figure, so as to form a chamber H betweenthe end of the barrel and the disk, into which the gases may flow asthey pass from the barrel and so as to strike the disk around theopening G, and preferably the bracket forms a sleeve around the barrel,which will close'the sides of the chamber H, as seen in Fig. 5, thusforming an inclosed chamber between the disk and the end of the barrel.The opening G through the disk should be somewhat larger than the boreof the barrel, so that as the bullet escapes from the barrel it may passfreely through the opening G. The force of the gases under explosionwill operate upon the disk end of the lever around the opening G and soas to impart to that lever a forward and downward swinging movement, asrepresented in Fig. 7, the lever to be returned after the explosion toits normal position, as seen in Fig. 5. and as hereinafter described.

At the rear end of the barrel the breechpiece I is arranged inlongitudinal guides in the receiver, so as to move backward and forward,as from the position seen in Fig. 5 to that seen in Fig. 8 and return,and in similar manner to the operation of thelongitudinallyreciprocating breech-pieces in fire-arms. In the receiverbelow the barrel and breechpiecealongitudinal slideJ is arranged, guidedin the receiver so as to receive a longitudinallyreciprocating movement.The slide J is connected to the lever E by a rod K, hung by one end to apivot L on the lever E and at the other end by a pivot M to the slide J.Consequently as the lever E is thrown forward, as from the position inFig. 5 to that seen in Fig. 7, it will draw with it the connecting-rod Kand the slide J from the position seen in Fig. 5 to that seen in Fig. 8.The breech-pieoeis connected to the slide J, so that as the slide Jmoves forward the breech-piece will move rearward. This movement isaccomplished by means of a togglejoint, one link N of which is hung tothe breech-piece, the other end of the link N being hung to the otherlink 0 of the toggle, and the link 0 hung upon a stationary pivot Pinthe receiver. The link 0 has an arm Q projecting from its hub,which isconstructed with a slot R, the said arm extending into a slot S in theslide J, a pin T being passed through the slide and through theslot B,so as to connect the arm Q with the slide S, so that when the slidemoves forward from the position seen in Fig. 5 to that seen in Fig. 7 itwill correspondingly turn the arm Q and accordingly double the link, asrepresented in Fig. 8. This operation of the link withdraws thebreechpiece from its closed position, Fig. 5, to the open position seenin Fig. 8. Then as the slide is returned it will produce the reversemovement and bring the breech-piece to its closed position, the jointsof the toggle coming into line between its fixed pivot P and the pivotbetween the toggle and the breechpiece, so that the toggle serves as aresistance to the breech-piece under explosion.

In the receiver below the rear end of the barrel and upon a pivot U thehammer V is hung, its nose being adapted to strike the primer of thecartridge. The hammer is constructed with a tail W, which, when in theclosed position, extends down through a slot X in the slide J, and sothat as the slide moves forward the rear end of the slot will strike theback of the tail, and, forcing it forward, will turn the hammer awayfrom the rear end of the barrel and into the cooked position, as seen inFig. 8, the tail of the hammer passing from the slot onto the upper sideof the slide, so that the hammer will be held in the cooked positionuntil the proper time for firing. The mainspring for the hammer, as hererepresented, is a spiral spring Y, arranged upon a rod Z, hung by oneend to the hammer, as at a, the other end passing through a stationaryguide I) and so as to slide therein, the spring-Y being arranged betweenthe stationary guide I) and a collar 0 on the rod Z. Hence as the hammeris brought to the cooked position it will compress the spring, as seenin Fig. 8, the spring being held in' the compressed condition until thehammer is again released. As arranged, the pivot between the rod and thehammer passes above the central line of the hammer-pivot as the hammeris brought tothe cocked position, as seen in Fig. 8. Consequently thetendency of the spring in this position is to hold the hammer in thecooked position; but as the slide is returned the forward end (1 of theslot will strike the tail of the hammer on its forward side and operateas a cam to turn the tail downward into the slot X, as seen in Fig. 9,and when the tail is thus engaged with the slot the hammer continues itsturning movement until the action of the spring is brought below thepivot, as seen in Fig. 9. Then the spring is free to throw the hammerforward to impart its blow. The slot X is of a length considerablygreater than the width of the tail of the hammer, as seen in Figs. 7 and8, and so as to allow the free movement of the hammer, which, when thehammer has been turned sufficiently to bring the spring into action,will leave the hammerfree to fly forward and impart its blow, as seen inFig. 5, thus making the operation of the hamm'cr automatic under thereciprocating movement of the slide J.

The breech-piece is provided with the usual extracting-hook e, which,when the breechpiece is closed, will engage the flange of the cartridgewhich has been inserted into the barrel and so that upon the openingmovement of the breech-piece the cartridge-shell will be withdrawn, orthe cartridge, if it be not ex ploded.

To eject the exploded shell (or cartridge, if it be not exploded) and soas to surely make way for the next cartridge, the arm Q of the link 0 isconstructed with a fingerfprojecting therefrom, and which as thebreech-piece approaches its open position, as seen in Fig.8,

will strike the shell or cartridge, as the case may be, which is engagedwith the extractor and so as to give to the shell or cartridge an upwardejecting force sufficient to throw it from the gun and make way for thenext cartridge.

At one side of the receiver, here represented as the right-hand side,the mechanism for the supply of cartridgesis applied. This consists of apair of sprocket-wheels g g, hung upon an axle h and forming a carrierin a position so far forward of the rear end of the barrel as to bringcartridges which may be carried by the said sprocket-wheels or carrierinto a position that the plane of the rear end of the head of thecartridge will be substantially in the plane of the rear end of thebarrel, as seen in Fig. 2, the axis of the sprocketwheels beingsubstantially parallel with the axis of the barrel. An intermittentrotation is imparted to the sprocket-wheels 9 through the reciprocatingmovement of the slide J.

This is accomplished by arranging a ratchetwheel '5. on the axis of thesprocket-wheels g g. (See Figs. 11 and 5 in broken lines.) Adjacent tothe ratchet-wheel 11 a lever Z0 is hung upon a pivot Z, so as to swingin a plane parallel with the plane of the barrel and ot' the axis of thesprocket-wheels. This lever extends down, its lower end being inengagement with the slide J through a corresponding notch or slot in theslide (represented inbroken lines, Fig. 5) and so that the forward andback movement of the slide J will impart a corresponding vibratorymovement to the lever k. The lever is carries a spring-pawl m, hung toit, which is adapted to engage corresponding notches or teeth on theratchet-wheel 'i, and so that as the lever swings forward, as from theposition seen in Fig. 5 to thatseen in Fig. 8, which is the openingmovement of the breech-piece, the pawl will retreat without action uponits ratchet; but in the return of the slide to bring the breech-piece toits closed position the lever is will also be returned, and such returnmovement will cause the pawl m to engage the ratchet and impartthereto-a rotation toward thebarrel, the sprocket-wheels receiving thesame rotation. One of the spaces or recesses in the sprocket-wheels whenthe sprocket-wheel is at rest lies in substantially the horizontal planeof the bore of the barrel, as seen in Fig. 13. The sprocket-wheels areadapted to receive a succession of cartridges, as will be hereinafterdescribed, and

so that in the rotation of the sprocket-wheels these cartridges will besuccessively presented into the position just described and, as

seen in Fig. 13, presenting the foremost cartridge into a planesubstantially in the plane of the bore of the barrel and with the headof that cartridge in the plane of the rear end of the barrel, as beforedescribed.

The breech-piece I projects through the side of the receiver toward thesprocketwheels, as seen at 01, Figs. 16 and 17, and in line with thecartridge 19, which then stands in the sprocket-wheel. This projection nof the breech-piece is provided with' a hook r upon its under side, likethe extractor-hook e a position at one side of the open breechpiece,

of the breech-piece, as seen in Figs. 17 and 18, and which as thebreech-piece is brought forward to its closed position will engage the.head of the cartridge then standing in line in the sprocket-wheel, asseen in Figs. 15 and 18. Then as the breech-piece is moved rearward toits open position, the hook rof the projection'n, having engaged thecartridge p in the sprocket-wheels, will draw that cartridge from thesprocket-wheels rearward and into as seen in Fig. 16, but in the planeof the barrel, thus bringing the cartridge into a position to be movedinto the receiver forward of the front face of the breech-piece and inline with the barrel. To transfer the cartridge thus presented at theside of the receiverinto its place forward of the breech-piece, a levers is hung upon a pivot t on that side of the receiver and so as tovibrate in a vertical transverse plane. The lever is of T shape, theupper part or cross 11. of the T normally standing outside of thecartridge 19 as it is presented at the side of the receiver, as seen inFig. 12. This lever at the proper time receives an inward swingingmovement, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 12, which will force thecartridge p from the position it occupied as it was withdrawn from thesprocket-wheels into a position forward of the front face of thebreech-piece, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 16, and so that as thebreech-piece next moves forward it will force the cartridge so presentedinto the barrel, and on the retreat of the breechpiece the explodedcartidge-shell will be withdrawn and ejected, as before described, whilea second cartridge will be drawn rearward from the sprocket-wheelsreadyv to be introduced at the rear of the barrel in place of theexploded shell or the previous cartridge, if it downwardly-projectingcam 2, (see Figs. 8 and 14, also'seen in broken lines, Fig. 11,) whichnormally stands at the rear of the lever s, as seen in Fig. 5. The faceof the cam 2 next the stud w is beveled or inclined inward and backward,as seen in Fig. 14, and so that as the slide moves forward this beveledsurface will strike upon the stud w and force it inward without effectupon the lever s; but the back of the cam 2 is inclined rearward andupward. Hence in the return of the slide the cam will strike upon thetop of the stud, as seen in Fig. 11,without tendency to force the studinward, and the incline of the cam will consequently turn the lever s,as seen in Fig. 11, giving it a sudden inward movement sufficient tothrow the cartridge into its place forward of the breech-piece, asbefore described. The operation of the cam 2 is timed so that thecartridge is transferredby the lever 8 before the breech-piece haspractically commenced its forward movement and immediately after theejection of the previously-exploded shell or cartridge, as the case maybe.

The cartridges are supplied to the sprocket-wheels by any suitabledevice which will present the cartridges to the Wheels with sufthewheels, so that the rotation. of the wheels may successively presentthem into proper position for the transfer to the barrel. Aspring-stopisprovidedforthesprocket-wheels, which will arrest them, soas to prevent overmotion in their intermittent rotation. This stop isrepresented in Fig. 11 and is best made as aspring-stop 5, which willyieldingly engage the sprocket-wheel, but permit its being turned underthe application of force thereto, as described-a common expedient in.pawl-and-ratchet mechanisms.

The bracket 0 is connected to the receiver by means of longitudinal bars6 6, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 6,) the rod 7c working between these bars 6.The lever E is thrown outward by the force of the gases. Toautomatically return the lever after it has thus been thrown outward, asuitable spring is provided, which will be compressed or extended, asthe case may be, in the opening movement of the lever and so that thereaction of the spring will force the lever to its closed position. Ashere represented, this spring is a spiral spring 7, arranged upon astationary rod 8, secured to the bracket at the front and extendingloosely through an ear 9 on the slide J, one end of the spring bearingagainst the forward end of the slide, as seen in Figs. 5 and 6, theother end of the spring bearing against a collar 10 on the rod 8 and sothat as the slideis moved forward under the operation of the gasesthrough the lever E, as before described, the spring will be compressed,so that its reaction may return the slide and the lever to the closedposition ready for the next explosion. As the opening movement of thelever E throws the breech-piece to the open position, cooks the hammer,and presents a new cartridge forward of the breech-piece, as beforedescribed, the return of the leverEunder the action of its spring bringsthe breech-piece to the closed position, forces the next cartridge intothe barrel, and releases the hammer to explode that cartridge after itshall have been properlyintroduced into the barrel and there supportedby the breech-piece. The firing of that cartridge repeats the action ofthe lever E and brings the parts to the open position. Thus continuing,the cartridges are successively exploded, and with a rapidity limitedonly to the action of the gases in opening the breech -piece and theaction of the spring in returning the same, continuous and rapid firingbeing thereby made practicable. As a cushion to easily arrest theopening movement of the parts under the action of the gases, a spring 11is arranged below the lever E and so that as the lever reaches its openposition it may strike the said spring as a yielding resistance toeasily arrest the opening movement of the lever.

Some means is necessary'to retain the hammer at full-cock when thebreech-piece is in the closed position in order to the firing of thefirst cartridge, and it is also desirable that the operation of themachine may be arrested, notwithstanding cartridgesare ready to beintroduced. These objects are here represented as accomplished by asingle instrumentality. This consists of a lever 12, arranged upon theside of the receiver, with a headed stud 13 through it into the receiveras a support for the lever and the lever extended rearward of this studto form a handle 14. The lever is adapted to a lateral movement underthe application of force to the handle, so as to turn the forward end ofthe lever outward, as seen in Fig. 10. The lever at its forward end isturned inward to form a nose 15, which, when the lever is in itsinwardposition, will stand in the path of the hammer and so that thehammer being cocked the nose of the lever will serve to hold it in thatcocked position and thus prevent firing. Between the head of the stud 13and the lever a spring 16 is introduced, tending to yieldingly hold thelever in its inward position. Before the operation of the gun commencesthe hammer is brought to the cocked position and engaged by the lever12. Then a cartridge being in the barrel and the breech-piece closed,the hammer is released by pressing the handle 14 of the lever 12 inward,so as to draw the nose of the lever from before the hammer. Then thehammer will fiy forward and explode the cartridge. From that time thefiring will continue so long as the cartridges are supplied and thelever 12 is held in that out or disengaged position; but when the leveris released, so as to permit it to again move inward forward of thehammer, it will in the next operation catch the hammer in the cookedposition, and thus interrupt the action of the gun until the hammer isagain released.

While representing the cartridges as supplied by means of a chain-likeseries of pockets, they may be otherwise supplied to the sprocket orfeed wheels-as, for illustration,

by means of a hopper, as represented in broken lines, Fig. 13, thehopper being adapted to receive a mass of cartridges, the mouth of thehopper opening to the wheels or carrier, so that when at rest acartridge may pass from the hopper into the carrier.

It will be understood that the machine is to be supported upon asuitable frame or stock, it not being necessary to illustrate suchsupport in order to the full understanding of the invention.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a gun-barrel attached to a receiver and openingrearward therein, of a lever arranged near the forward end of the barreland so as to swing in a plane parallel with the bore of the barrel, thelever at its free end forming a cap forward of the front end of thebarrel, with an opening through it corresponding to the bore of thebarrel, a breech-piece arranged upon longitudinal guides in the receiverat the rear of the barrel and so as to receive reciprocating movement, atoggle-joint the forward link of which ITO receiver below thebreech-piece and toggle,

the said slotted arm of the link hung upon a pivot in the said slide, arod connecting the said slide with the said lever, whereby the saidslide partakes of the opening movement of the saidlever, and a springopposed to such opening movement of the lever, with a hammer arranged tobe brought to the cocked position in the opening movement of thebreechpiece and released as the breech-piece closes, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination of a gun-barrel, a receiver into which the barrelopens at the rear, a lever hung near the forward end of the barrel andso as to swing in a plane parallel with the plane of the barrel, thefree end of the lever forming a cap forward of the front end of thebarrel, with an opening through it corresponding to the bore of thebarrel, a longitudinally-reciprocating slide arranged in the receiver, arod connecting said slide with the lever, a spring opposed to theopening movement of the said lever, a reciprocating breechpiece arrangedin the receiver and connected with said slide, whereby the opening andclosing movement of the said lever will impart corresponding opening andclosing movement to the breech-piece, and a hammer hung in the receiverbelow the barrel, its nose adapted to strike the cartridge in thebarrel,the hammer constructed with a tail extending through a slotprovided for it in the said slide, the two ends of the said slot formingcams against the corresponding. rear and front sides of the saidhammer-tail, with a mainspring for the hammer, substantially asdescribed. Y

3. The combination of a barrel, a receiver at the rear of the barrelinto which the rear end of the barrel opens, alongitudinally-reciprocating breech-piece arranged in said receiver atthe rear of the barrel, and an intermittently-rotating carrier arrangedat one side of the barrel, but forward'of the rear end of the barrel,said carrier being adapted to receive a succession of cartridgesparallel with the barrel, the said breech-piece provided with anextractor adapted to engage a cartridge in the barrel and constructedwith a projection upon the carrier side, the said projection carrying ahook or catch adapted to engage the head of a cartridge on the carrierwhen the breechpiece is in the closed position and whereby in the rearmovement of the, breech-piece a cartridge willbe drawn from said carrierrearward, with mechanism substantially such as described to throw saidrearwardly-drawn cartridge into a position forward of the front face ofthe breech-piece and in line with the barrel, and mechanism,substantially such as described, at the'forward end of the barrel and inconnection with the said breech-piece, substantially as specified, andwherebythe explosion of the gases operating through said mechanism atthe forward end of the barrel will impart reciprocating movement to thebreech-piece.

4:. In a gun' having abarrel opening into a receiver at the rear and alongitudinally-reciprocating breechpiece in said receiver, withmechanism at the forward end of the barrel in connection with saidbreech-piece, whereby the gases from the explosion will cause saidmechanism at the forward'end of the barrel to produce the reciprocatingmovement of the said breech-piece, the combination therewith of anintermittently-rotating carrier arranged at one side of the barrel, theaxis of the carrier being substantially parallel with the axis of thebarrel, said carrier constructed with recesses in its periphery adaptedto receive cartridges and successively present the same in line with thebarrel, but forward of the rear end of the barrel, the breech-piececonstructed with an extension upon the carrier side, the said extensionprovided with a hook adapted to engage the head of a cartridge presentedthereto by the carrier when the breech-piece is in its closed positionand so that in the rear movement of the breech-piece the cartridge soengaged will be drawn rearward from the carrier into a position in rearof but at one side of the barrel, a lever arranged to swingin a planetransverse to the axis of the barrel, the free end of the lever normallyoutside the cartridge so withdrawn from'the carrier, and mechanismsubstantially such as described to-inipart an inward movement to saidlever,whereby the said lever is transferred to a position forward of thefront face of the open breechpiece and in line with the barrel,substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the barrel, a receiver at the rear of the barreland into which the barrel opens, a lever E, hung near the forward end ofthe barrel and so as toswing in a plane parallel with the plane of thebar rel, the free end of the lever forming a cap forward of the frontend of the barrel, said and closing movement of the said lever will becorrespondingly imparted to the breechpiece, the said slide constructedwith a slot X,

a hammer hung upon a stationary pivot in the receiver between the barreland the said slide, the hammer constructed with a tail W, extending intosaid slot X in the slide, and a mainspring for the hammer, connected tothe hammer below its pivot and so as to pass above the hammer-pivot whenin the full-cocked position, the forward end of the said slot X in theslidearranged to strike the forward side of the tail as the slide movesrearward and thereby start the hammer for its striking -movement, so asto bring the active point of the spring below the central line of thepivot, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination of a barrel, a receiver into which the barrel opensat the rear, a longitudinally reciprocating breech piece arranged in thesaid receiver at the rear of the barrel, a toggle-joint, one link N ofwhich is hung to the breech-piece, the other link 0- hung upon astationary pivot in the receiver at the rear, thelongitudinally-reciprocating slide J, arranged below the said stationarypivot of the links, mechanism substantially such as described at theforward end of the barrel, whereby under the influence of the explosionlongitudinally-reciprocating move ment is imparted to said slide, andalink 0, constructed with a slotted rearwardly-extending arm into a slotin the said slide, with a pivot in said slot of the slide through theslot in the said arm, the said arm constructed wit-h a finger f,projecting therefrom, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. The combination of a receiver, a barrel attached to and opening atthe rear into said receiver, a longitudinally-reciprocating breech-piecearranged in the said receiver at the rear of the barrel, a toggle-joint,one link N of which is hung to the breech-piece, the other link 0 hungupon a stationary pivot in the receiver at the rear, alongitudinally-reciprocating slide J, the link 0 in connection with saidslide, whereby the reciprocating movement of the said slide J willimpart swinging vibratory movement to said link and consequentreciprocating movement to said breech-piece,a hammer hung uponastationary pivot in the receiver below the barrel, the hammerconstructed with aproject-ion therefrom extending into connection withsaid slide and whereby reciprocating movement of the slide will impartto the hammer the cocking and discharge movement, the hammer beingprovided with a mainspring, and mechanism at the forward end of thebarrel in connection with said slide, substantially as described, andwhereby the explosion of the gases will produce said reciprocatingmovement of the said slide.

8. The combination of a receiver, a barrel opening into the receiver atthe rear, a lever E, hung upon a bracket at the forward end of thebarrel and so as to swing in the plane of the barrel, the bracketforming a cap foward of the front end of the barrel, with an openingthrough it corresponding to the bore of the barrel, a cushioned springagainst which the said lever may strikein the opening movement, breechmechanism in the receiver substantially such as described, and aconnection therefrom to said lever, substantially as described, andwhereby the swinging movement of said lever will impart correspondingmovement to the breech mechanism.

9. A gun having a barrel opening into a receiver at the rear and alongitudinally-re 7o ciprocating breech-piece in .said receiver, withmechanism to impart such reciprocating movement to said breech-piece,the combination therewith of an intermittently-rotating carrier arrangedat one side of the barrel, the axis of the carrier being substantiallyparallelwith the axis of the barrel, said carrier constructed withrecesses in its periphery adapted to receive cartridges and successivelypresent them in line with but forward of the rear end of the barrel, thebreech-piece constructed with an extension upon the carrier side, thesaid extension provided with a hook adapted to engage the head of acartridge presented thereto when the breech-piece is in its closedposition, so that in the rear movement of the breech-piece the cartridgeso engaged will be drawn rearward from the carrier into a position inrear of but at one side of the barrel, with mechanism substantially suchas described to throw said rearwardly-drawn cartridge into a positionforward of the front face of the breech-piece and in line with thebarrel, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN M. BROWNING. MATTHEW S. BROWVNING. Witnesses:

W. G. WRIGHT, J. H. EMMETT.

